


The Misfit's Holiday

by SherlockRiverHekate



Category: James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: Día de los Muertos | Day of the Dead, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, Samhain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:14:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27241780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SherlockRiverHekate/pseuds/SherlockRiverHekate
Summary: James Bond returns to MI6 in time for halloween. He makes it his mission to find out about halloween traditionals from various cultures and nationalities in Q branch. Basically this is my way of describing where halloween came from. Some things may be a little off, my apologies.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	1. Prologue

James Bond strode into Q branch midmorning, carrying a takeaway coffee in one hand and a brown paper bag in the other. The smell of cinnamon and warm baked goods was wafting from the bag, leaving a trail of bakery fragrance and curious glances in the agent's wake.  
He had only taken two steps into Q branch when his steps faltered, it was a barely perceptible falter but for a trained agent it was the same as stopping dead in their tracks. Regardless, James Bond carried on; bringing his sugary offering to the branch overlord, though most people just called him Q.

"Morning, Bond," Q greeted, seeing the man stop in his peripheral vision.  
"Good morning Q." He placed the bag down in a paper free stop next to the other man's laptop. "Have you eaten yet?"  
Q shook his head. "I didn't even have breakfast, unless you count biscuit when I got here."  
Bond shook his head in disbelief. This made Q actually divert his attention from the screen in front of him to the man beside him.  
"The cats were displeased at the late night and early morning," he commented. "They were both menaces and made me do some cleaning up before I was able to leave the house. Rather set my schedule back a bit."  
"Well then, the cinnamon scroll and apple Danishes will make a nice meal for you." Bond grinned in satisfaction.  
Q just rolled his eyes, and then eyed the cup in Bond's hand suspiciously.  
"That coffee had better not be for me," he warned Bond.  
Bond clutched the brown paper cup to his chest dramatically. "Banish the thought, dear Quartermaster. This is mine."  
"Good. I drank enough of that rubbish in Uni." He made a face at the thought of the bitter liquid.  
Just then a member of Q branch placed a fresh cup of tea next to Q's elbow on the other side.  
"If I didn't know better, I'd say they're watching us," Bond commented.  
"They may not be as subtle as the field agents, but they are still spies, Bond. Of course they're watching us." Q sniffed.  
"Speaking of subtle, or not. What happened in here?" Bond asked, his coffee free hand waving at the interior of the branch.  
"It's October," Q replied distractedly, pulling a pastry out of the bag.  
"It was October yesterday as well," Bond pointed out, "And it didn't look like that in here."  
"Yes, we came to an agreement for half the month."  
"This was all done since midnight?" Bond asked incredulously.  
"The night shift was rather quiet. The only double O's are on undercover assignments, and as you are on home turf, no one had to worry about unexpected pyrotechnics."  
Wisely, Bond chose to ignore that jab.

The night shift must have been very bored, or else there was a lot of planning that had gone into these decorations, and they were just the shift that was chosen to execute the idea. The whole, not inconsiderable sized room, was decorated from floor to high ceilings in Halloween decorations. Fake spider webs were draped across the whole ceiling, with spiders hanging down at random intervals. From light fixtures hung bats, some of which were mechanical and intermittently flapped their wings. In one corner Bond spotted a coffin, which he swore was real rather than a decorative piece and in another there was a skeleton wearing a witch's hat. Most desks had small carved pumpkins, and Bond swore he even saw a few carved turnips. Other gruesome and Halloween themed decorations were scattered across desks and the room itself.

You are allowed to go and have a look, you know," Q mentioned. "Just don't interrupt their work."  
He turned back to his work, and Bond took that as a polite dismissal.  
The agent was about to start wandering around the desks in the room, but his phone went off. With a roll of his eyes, he went to see what Miss Moneypenny wanted from him now.


	2. Mumming and Guising

It was a week and a half later that Bond was able to return to Q branch, having been sent on a short mission to Greece to look into some money laundering that MI6 had linked to various terrorist organisations. Nothing too complicated or strenuous, and Q had sent him off with his gun, a radio and a USB to collect information.  
"My equipment," Bond said, depositing it all on Q's desk.  
"We have a desk set up precisely for this purpose 007," Q commented.  
"Where's the fun in that?" Bond countered. "Plus, I don't think I could find it under all these decorations."  
"It's right over there next to the tombstones," Q told him, waving a hand in the general direction. "Maryanna is perfectly capable of logging what you have returned of your equipment, and the condition that the pieces are in."  
A red head, with her face painted like a flowery skull, waved at Bond, who looked at her curiously.  
"You wound me," Bond exclaimed cheekily.  
Q just raised an eyebrow at him and continued typing.  
"It's got worse in here…" Bond muttered.  
"You're Scottish," Q said. "Surely you went trick or treating when you were a child."  
Bond thought about this. The more he thought about it, the more he had vague recollections of going down the street with his mother when he was quite young. "I think I did, but really I'm not sure."  
"Go talk to Marc, he grew up in an area close to Skyfall," Q said distractedly. "But first, let's see what condition my hard work is in."  
First Q picked up the USB. Surprisingly it was in perfect condition.  
"This has all the information from the computers?"  
"You know it does, Q."  
"And you didn't somehow dunk it in a martini, or go for a swim with it in your pocket?"  
"No. Though you really should consider making these things water proof." Bond mentioned offhandedly.  
"So that you can be even more reckless with our technology? I don't think so." Q scoffed.  
The next thing he picked up was the gun. It light up green, then clicked as Q pulled all the pieces apart. All the components of the gun were there. The butt, however, had major cracks from where it had been used as a door stop, and the barrel had a few scratches and a dent on it. Q didn't know how they could have occurred, despite overseeing most of the mission himself. The boffin wasn't going to complain too much though, the fact that all the pieces were there meant that it would be much easier to repair than if he had to build a completely new one.  
Q went to reach for the radio, and realised there was nothing there.  
"What happened to the radio, 007?"  
"Couldn't rightly tell you, Q."  
There was a smile on the agent's face and Q frowned.  
"What do you mean? You had it when you signed off. How do you lose it on a plane trip?"  
Bond just continued to smile at him.  
Q sighed and waved him off. "I guess two out of three isn't too bad for you."  
Bond turned to go find the technician Q had just mentioned, and then realised he had no hope of identifying anyone in the branch any longer. Only a handful of Q branch workers, Q included, were still wearing their normal work clothes. The rest were in costumes.  
"Marc is the one on the far left in the pirate hat." Q told him.

Bond slowly made his way to where Marc was working, stopping off to look at the various decorations around the room and on people's desks.  
He passed by two large black cauldrons, each stirring themselves and somehow being kept warm, judging by the steam rising off of them.  
"Would you like a drink, Mr agent Bond sir?" someone asked.  
"Just James is fine," He smiled at her. "What's in each of these?"  
"Oh, umm. This one is rooibos 'blood' tea," the little witch stammered, fingers making quotation marks around the word blood. "It's rooibos tea, cherries, blood orange juice and a little bit of cinnamon."  
"And the other?" He wasn't really a tea drinker.  
"That's," she turned to another person who was wearing a blue leotard and a blue hooded cape, with a red gem in the middle of her forehead, "What did we decide for this one, Hannah?"  
"That's the caramel apple cider latte," Hannah replied.  
"I'll try some of the latte then, if you don't mind," He decided. It sounded ridiculously sweet, but the caffeine in it would be welcome.  
He was handed a glass beaker that had been filled with the drink, a black and orange paper serviette wrapped around the middle for him to hold.  
"Enjoy," the little witch smiled as Bond thanked her and made his way to Marc.

Bond reached the technician's desk, and took a look at the man's screen. It was filled with blueprints and maps, a note pad with writing next to the key pad. Bond determined that he wasn't working on an urgent task, so pulled a chair up next to the desk.  
"Q tells me you grew up near to my home in Scotland," Bond began.  
"Yea," Marc agreed. "Though I don't know how much would of what I did would be the same to you, no offense."  
"None taken," Bond told him, "You look barely old enough to have finished school."  
"Thanks, I think," Marc grinned. "So, what do ya want ta know? It's about Halloween traditions, I assume?"  
Bond nodded. "Tell me as much as you can."  
"Alright," Marc nodded. "Well, by the time I was in high school it'd started to get really commercialised, following all the American stuff. But there were still a lotta the old traditions going on as well. Do ya know where the origins of Halloween come from?"  
Bond had read this somewhere. "A Celtic celebration called Samhain, isn't it?"  
Marc nodded. "I don't know too much about that part of it. In Scotland it's said to be the time that the souls of the departed return home. That's about all I know, but if ya wanted ta know more then you'd best ask Lou.  
Ma always said that we had to go out in costume, cause if we impersonated the supernatural beings and the fae then it'd scare 'em off. Mumming and guising she'd call it. Then all us kids would go house to house collecting offerings on the behalf of the departed souls."  
Bod nodded. "I do remember something about going to houses with my mother when I was quite small. She was a fan of Shakespeare, and I have a feeling she may have dressed me as Puck." Bond laughed a little.  
"Aye," Marc agreed. "That'd sound about right. Puck is a fae after all, an' full o' mischief. Natural choice for Halloween.  
"We would recite verses of songs at each house. And threatened to do some sort of mischief if we weren't given the offerings."  
Bond's eyes light up. "That sounds more my style. What sort of mischief?"  
Marc shook his head. "See, there's the funny thing. I don't rightly know. Everyone gave us offerings, so I never got to test that out…"  
"Such a shame."  
"It is, now that I think about. Though I could cause more interesting mischief now," Marc commented. "Sorry, that's about all I can tell you." He added.  
"Thank you," Bond said. "It's very interesting."  
As Bond went was heading home, he resolved to give Kincaid a call. The grounds keeper would certainly remember any other traditions that they used to do at Skyfall.


	3. Samhain

Despite the fact that Bond was on mandatory downtime, as he had just finished a mission, he still made his way to Q branch.  
He wasn't keen on sitting in his house by himself, and although he technically had his own office, he preferred Q branch. The fact that Moneypenny had actually threatened him bodily harm if his after action report wasn't handed in had nothing to do with anything, he wasn't intimidated by the brunette, no matter what the twinge in his shoulder said.  
This time he had brought food for the entire branch, a tray of chocolate cupcakes topped with crumbled biscuits and gummy worms. Graveyard cakes, the bakery had called them. He placed them on the table in the kitchenette, next to the kettle, then went to speak with Q.  
"You're back again, Bond," Q remarked.  
"Moneypenny made threats on my life should my report not be submitted in a timely manner," he informed Q.  
"Threats on your life or threats on certain body parts?" Q queried.  
"Both," Bond admitted.  
"So you came down here to annoy my workers instead?"  
"I was rather hoping to borrow a computer," Bond said. "And possibly talk to Lou if she is on duty?"  
Q looked at him in surprise.  
"Don't look at me like that, you know most of my possessions were sold off after Moneypenny shot me off a train."  
"I wasn't surprised about that," Q told him, walking to where the spare laptops were stored. "I was surprised you knew the names of my people. Why do you want to talk to Lou?"  
"Marc mentioned she knew more about Samhain and I'm curious to find out," Bond replied as he took the computer that Q handed to him.  
"That definitely makes sense," Q said cryptically. "Are you interested in Samhain in particular, or Halloween traditions in general?"  
That made Bond pause for a moment.  
"Halloween in general, actually. I was in Mexico for Dia de los Muertos and that seemed interesting."  
Q nodded. "Very well. In the branch there is a few different nationalities and celebrations, I can direct you to each of them if you'd like."  
Bond nodded. "That would be appreciated. Though maybe one a day? I do still need to complete this report."  
Q did some mental calculations. "If you talk to one person a day, you'll finish on the 30th. Just in time for the branch celebrations on Halloween."  
"The computer will unlock with fingerprint recognition. Lou is the bleach blonde dressed as a fae." He added.

After a solid hour of work on his report, Bond decided to take a break. Saving his progress, he stretched and sauntered over to where Lou was doing something with electronics.  
"Lou," he addressed her. "I was told you are the best person to ask about the history of Samhain."  
She looked up at him. Her blonde hair had purple tips, and there were prosthetic on her ears that made them pointed. Freckling her face were large glitter pieces, and her eyes were lined with green and orange. When she looked at him, he was reminded of something his mother had told him a long time ago. 'When you go into the woods, beware of the fae, my child. They come out to play but they play for keeps.' Lou looked just like what he had imagined the fae to be when he was a young boy.  
"I am. And the history of Samhain is also the base of most if not all Halloween celebrations," she told him. "Pull up a chair and I shall tell you a story," she winked.  
Bond obliged and made himself comfortable.  
"Before Christianity reached our shores, the people Britain and it's islands worshipped the old gods and the spirits. Some of us still do."  
Bond looked at her curiously, noting the use of 'us' as an inclusive.  
"My religion is Wicca, so I still leave offerings for the gods and fae," she explained. "It also means that I celebrate Samhain rather than the traditional Halloween. But much of it is the same, and the roots of Halloween are in Samhain anyway."  
"So what is Samhain?"  
Lou grinned, and Bond saw slightly pointed canines in her mouth.  
"Samhain is a celebration of the end of harvest, and the start of the dark half of the year, winter. It's believed that this is when the barriers between our world and that of the fairies and spirits is at its most thin, allowing them to come across."  
"That's where the stories of ghosts come from?" Bond questioned her.  
"Right, because ghosts are literally spirits. And because spirits can come across, a lot of people believe that the souls of their dead loved ones can also return home and seek hospitality in the family home. This is where the start of trick or treating comes in, though Marc will have told you that it started to really take hold in Scotland with the mumming and guising."  
Bond agreed, remembering the conversation yesterday.  
"He is right. The Scots took brought it closer to what we know today. During Samhain offerings of food, drink or portions of the successful crop were left out for the gods and spirits to win their favour and ensure that their family and their stock survived the harsh winter. Over time, young children started going house to hose to collect the offerings, and that's where the mumming came in."  
"You mentioned the souls of the deceased returning home. What happens with that?" Bond was curious.  
"Right. So there was food left out for them as well. This is the part that the Christians seized on and adapted once they became the more predominant religion. Wiccans don't do much more than leave out food and drink for our departed ancestors, but I believe there's more to it in Christianity. I don't know, you'd have to ask Christine about that one."  
"Q is going to give me a list of the different celebrations Q branchers undertake, so I'm sure she will be on the list." Bond informed her.  
"Probably," Lou agreed.

It was mid-afternoon when Bond had decided that he was done with his report for the day. There was still more to fill out, but he was sick of sitting and sick of typing. He returned the computer to Q.  
"Finished that report then?" Q asked.  
"No, but I'm finished for the day," Bond informed him. "I don't know how you people just sit and type for hours on end."  
"Habit, I suppose," Q replied, placing the laptop back in its bay. He handed a piece of paper Bond.  
"These are all the people I suggest you talk to about Halloween. But I can point each person out to you when you get here. With Halloween fast approaching, the branch is getting more and more into the celebrations, and I doubt you will be able to tell who is who."  
Bond thanked him. "So it's a big celebration down here?"  
"You have no idea," Q grinned. "It's lucky that Halloween falls on a Saturday this year."  
Bond gave him a look.  
"You'll see if you come in Saturday afternoon." Q smirked. "But a word of warning, you'll want to come in a costume. And preferably with some treats."  
"You're all going trick or treating?!"  
Q didn't answer.


	4. Souling

The next morning was dreary and cold. Bond went down to Q branch still wrapped in his overcoat. With all the computers that ran the branch, the rooms tended to be on the colder end of the scale. On a day like this, it would be near freezing down there.  
He discovered he was entirely correct that it was cold in Q branch. It appeared that all the Q branchers knew that their work place was going to be Antarctic, and therefore had dressed accordingly. Most of the branch was dressed in various onesies, even Q was wearing one. His was a onesie with a tuxedo pattern.  
"It's cold down here," Bond commented, rubbing his hands together.  
"You get used to it," Q commented. "The heater has been pushed a little higher, but we can't make it too warm in here. The computers will shut down otherwise."  
"Is this what it's like all during winter?" Bond asked in shock.  
"A little bit," Q told him. "M is working on getting more insulation down here. And we have a lot of cups of tea."  
"Surely you have space heaters."  
"We do have some," Q admitted. "But too many would overload the system."  
Bond frowned. He was going to have a talk with Moneypenny and see what they could work out.  
"Did you have a reason for coming down here or just wanting to complain about the cold?" Q inquired.  
"I need to finish that report for Moneypenny, and I wanted to talk to Christine."  
Q nodded, and reached for the laptop.  
"Log in the same as yesterday. Moneypants will be pleased if you can get the report done by the end of the day."  
Bond rolled his eyes at the nickname. "And which costumed minion is Christine?"  
"Oh, she's the unicorn over by the double computer screen. Now, if you excuse me, 009's mission is starting soon."

Bond was torn between going and talking to Christine first or doing more work on the report. On one hand, if he spoke to Christine first then Q may let him take the computer to somewhere warmer, like the cafeteria to finish his after action report. On the other hand, Bond knew he would get side tracked if he didn't work on the report in Q branch, and putting off talking to Christine would ensure he stayed in the branch.  
With a sigh, he set himself up on a spare desk and then went to get a cup of something. Maybe Hannah, he thought that was her name. would have a warm coffee potion for him.

Eventually, once Bond's fingers were numb from either typing or the cold, he stood and walked to where Christine was working.  
"Christine?" Bond drew her attention.  
"Yes, what would you like Bond?" She looked across at him, then back to what she was doing on her screen.  
"I was hoping you could explain your Halloween traditions to me."  
"I don't really celebrate Halloween, I'm Christian."  
Bond tried really hard not to roll his eyes.  
"Someone mentioned that there was a religious side to the celebrations as well," Bond countered.  
That made Christine look at him and smile a little.  
"Okay, well you are right there. Let me save what I'm working on."  
She clicked some screens and then closed the windows down.  
"Right. So in Christianity we celebrate all saint's day more than all hallows day. Households will light candles and put them in the windows to guide the souls of our departed family members back home. There cakes called soul cakes, which look a bit like hot cross buns, which are put out on the table when the candles are lit. These soul cakes are food for our family members when they find their way back home."  
Bond thought about this. "So they are sort of like the offerings made to the spirits and souls as well?"  
"In a way, yes."  
Bond hummed.  
"There was also, many decades ago, a tradition of dressing as deceased souls and dancing in the grave yard to confuse the evil spirits. That was called the danse macabre."  
"A Halloween party," Bond smirked.  
Christine nodded slowly. "I think that this might have been where it started."  
Christine looked at the time.  
"If you don't mind, Bond, I need to get back to my work. 003 has a mission in a few weeks and I need to do more background research."  
"Thank you for your time," Bond said, pushing off the desk and making his way back to where he had left the nearly finished report.

As Bond was proof reading through his report, his cold fingers had occasionally hit the wrong keys and misspelt words, he thought about what Christine had said. The people who think themselves a proper Christians, and definitely the good Catholic families, don't celebrate Halloween. Most of them don't celebrate all saint's day either. But these same people don't go back into the history of their own religion to see the celebrations that were once done at these times. They very easily see the Americanised hype and write it off as blasphemous and heathen. Funny how most of those heathen celebrations had a root in Christian traditions.  
Bond knew there would be plenty of sites demonising the celebrations, he wondered if it was worth it to go on a few and cause some chaos. He did so like watching them all bicker amongst themselves. He was also fairly certain that if Q had free time, he'd join Bond in his virtual terrorising.  
That was a thought for another time. The report was finished and Bond was headed for somewhere with enough heating that he could at least feel his hands again.


	5. Dia de los Muertos

The next day Bond didn't get into Q branch until the afternoon. He had promised Miss Moneypenny lunch when he handed his report in the previous day, and that meant he wasn't able to visit the branch until that was done.

"I thought you might have gotten sick of interrogating my workers about Halloween, Bond," Q said when he finally made an appearance.  
"No such luck," Bond replied. "You shall continue to be graced with my presence."  
Q rolled his eyes.  
"Who was on your list for today?"  
"I was hoping I might speak with Andreas, about the Day of the Dead." Bond was definitely looking forward to this one. Having experienced some of the celebrations first hand he was keen to find out a bit more about them.  
"Ah of course you were. You did bring the celebrations to attention in a rather spectacular way," Q commented drily.  
"I don't always set out with the intention to create explosions, you know," Bond retorted.  
"And yet, they happen."  
Bond couldn't really argue with that.  
"Which one is Andreas, Q?" He asked instead.  
"His work station is one of the more colourful ones," Q began.  
"Not helping overly, Q. This whole place is an explosion of colour currently."  
"If you would let me finish," Q said archly, "He is also dressed as, of all the things, a pilot today."  
"That does narrow it down, thank you."  
"Get on with your fact finding mission, Bond," Q told him with a laugh.

Bond couldn't disagree with Q when he said that Andreas workstation was colourful. There were paper flowers, wrapped candies and battery operated candles spread out across the desk. He even spotted a few photo frames, decorated with more flowers. And propped up next to the side of the desk, was an ornately decorated guitar.  
"I didn't know you played guitar, Andreas." Bond thought that was a nice, easy way to start the conversation.  
"There are a lot of things about all of us down here that you don't know," Andreas replied with a smile. "But that's part of why you keep coming to visit us, isn't it?"  
"It is," Bond agreed. "It can't hurt to know more about traditions around the world. Never know when it might come in useful for a mission."  
"You're not wrong there," Andreas agreed. "We might even write some of his into your covers one day."  
That prospect delighted Bond. Sometimes not being entirely British worked to his advantage.  
"So you want to know about the Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos. I'm not surprised after the parade you crashed in your other mission."  
"Must everyone bring that up?" Bond groaned, only a little put out.  
"Pretty much, yea. Anyway, in my opinion there isn't that much to tell. It's a three day celebration that starts on Halloween and ends on all soul's day, which is November 2nd. On Halloween we make a sort of shrine for all our departed family members. All there photos go up, usually on a table. The around the table we place candles, and food offerings. Candles to light their way back to us, and food for them to eat once they get there. So many people will make their departed family member's favourite foods."  
"That sounds similar to what Christine was telling me as well," Bond commented.  
"I'm not surprised. The Spanish based countries are all very religious. You'll find that Carmela's Italian traditions are similar to mine as well.  
Right. So we also leave offering out for safe passage to the afterlife as well. Wouldn't want family members to be stuck in purgatory. Then on all soul's day, the last day of celebration, the whole family comes together and we have a big feast. We share stories about our departed family members and celebrate being together and the lose we have lost."  
"That sounds very cheerful," Bond remarked.  
"It is." Andreas agreed. "A little bit sad, a little bit melancholic, but also very fun and cheerful."  
"That sounds like a celebration I could get behind," Bond told him.  
"I can send you a few links if you'd like to set up a memorial alter of your own." Andreas offered.  
"That's very kind of you, thank you."  
Bond wasn't sure if he would follow through, but it would make for some interesting reading at the very least.

That night, Bond decided which Q branch member he would talk to the next day. They all seemed to lead onto each other in a natural order. Each person he spoke to suggested someone else that might give him more information on something they'd touched on. There were only two more people on Bond's list, Carmela and Elene. One Italian and the other French.  
It was just now as he was looking at the list, that Bond was struck by the variety of nationalities or cultures in Q branch. There were six on the list Bond had been given, as well as others that hadn't been included because their culture or nationality didn't have its own dedicated celebration for Halloween. Q had quite a mix of people down there, but it obviously worked for him. The branch had never worked with the rest of MI6, and the 00 program especially, as well as it was now.


	6. Italian Celebrations

Halloween was now fast approaching. And the atmosphere in Q branch had upped to its spooky best. As Bond walked in, the monster mash was floating through the air. Before Bond cold reach Q, Michael Jackson's Thriller started playing, and everyone in the room (bar a few working on urgent matters) stood and started dancing.  
It wasn't the most graceful or coordinated dancing that Bond had witnessed, but what it lacked in finesse and timing it made up for with sheer enthusiasm. He watched in amazement as they completed the song, then sat back down as if nothing had ever happened.

"That was certainly something," Bond commented to Q.  
"We're only a few days out now, there's no stopping them." Was Q's reply. The smile on his face, believe his neutral words.  
"You're enjoying this as much as they are," he accused the boffin.  
"We're all one weird happy family here, Bond."  
"I can see." Bond wasn't sure if he was glad that he wasn't an active part of this, or just a little jealous. He loved his own division, but it was a rare occasion when they were all on home soil together, and it usually ended in destruction of some sort.  
"From memory you only have two people left to question." Q pulled him out of his thoughts. "Will it be Carmela or Elene today?"  
"Carmela. Andreas mentioned that his celebrations and Carmela's were similar."  
"That's fair. I like the method you're going with." Q agreed. "She's over by the back, dressed as a witch."  
That made Bond think of a question that he meant to ask Q, but before he could do so, the other man was firing off questions at someone and was obviously not to be interrupted.

"Here to ask me some questions, Mr Bond?" Carmela grinned impishly at him as he approached her.  
"I am." He said.  
"Figured it would be me next. I saw you talking to Andreas yesterday."  
"Nothing escapes notice here, does it?"  
"It can't, we are your extra eyes on missions. It's our job to spot what you all miss."  
Bond hadn't really thought of it that way. He was used to going it alone on missions, the extra assistance being something new that Q had introduced after Silva.  
"Well, our traditions aren't too dissimilar to those of the Day of the Dead. Now, it's taken a lot of the American activities, the parties and costumes and trick or treating. When my nonna was a kid though, it was the three day celebration. On Halloween you didn't really do much. Stay inside away from the spirits that are wandering, and light candles to place in windows to guide the departed souls back home. The next day though, she would leave the house with the family. The idea was to leave food and drink out, as well as making the beds up, then leave to allow all the returned souls to rest and freshen up in peace. On all saint's day, November 1st, everyone would go to mass. Italy is a predominantly Roman Catholic country after all. And of course you pray for the dead during mass."  
"You mentioned something about the 2nd of November as well?" Bond asked.  
"Yea," Carmela took a mouthful of water and then continued. "It's not so much a celebration as an observation. My nonna used to take shifts with other people in her family and they'd keep vigil in the family mausoleum. At least one person stayed there from sunrise until sunset. The whole place smelt like chrysanthemums apparently. So, don't give Italians those as a gift, or the French for that matter. Ask Elene about that one."  
"There's a story there?" Bonda sked curiously.  
"Bit of one, yea," Carmela laughed.  
"Well, thank you for sharing." Bond said gratefully.  
"Are you coming to the Halloween party?" Carmela asked before he left.  
"I think I might," Bond nodded.

"How serious is the costume part of the Halloween party?" Bond asked Q on his way out.  
"Very serious," Q said gravely. "It's a bit of a competition as well. Usually Moneypenny and M are the judges."  
"Well, I suppose I should find something then." Bond started to think what he had that he could use.  
"You won't be the best dressed person in the room that night," Q warned him. "My staff take the competition incredibly seriously."  
With that warning ringing in his ears, Bond went home to see what he had as a costume.


	7. La Toussaint

Friday the 30th of October dawned bright and deceptively sunny. While the sun itself was to and shining, there was still a chill to the air, making the day colder than it first appeared.  
This was the last day of Bond's so called Halloween fact finding mission,, and he was a little bit sad about that. He had enjoyed the past five days down in Q branch, finding out not just about Halloween but also the people that helped run his missions and keep him safe. The atmosphere down there was also a bonus, it was nothing like anywhere else in the building or even the city.

"Q," Bond greeted, strolling into the branch.  
"Hello Bond," Q said distractedly, flingers flying across the keyboard.  
"What's happened?" All humour had dropped from Bond's voice, seeing the live feed on the display.  
"005's mission has hit a slight snag," Q responded.  
"I'll leave you to it then," Bond went to stand unobtrusively at the back of the room.  
"Actually, can you go and get the food order from the cafeteria?" Q asked. "This might take a while. While 005 has less of a propensity for his missions to go as spectacular tits up as yours do, I think we may be here a while."  
Bond pushed off the wall, and as he was leaving, a blonde girl in a mermaid outfit caught up with him.  
"I'll help you carry everything." She offered. "Plus, I might be able to give you your final piece of Halloween information."  
"Elene, I assume?" Bond addressed her.  
"Yup!"  
"I read that France doesn't really do Halloween." He mentioned.  
"Not traditionally, no. Of course, like every other country, the American celebrations have bled into our culture. No sense in passing up a good dress up party, after all."  
"I see that seems to be a theme amongst Q branch."  
"Your observation skill have not let you down," She smiled.

They reached the cafeteria and Elene went to talk to the kitchen. After a few moments she beckoned Bond over and they started loading cardboard boxes into bags for then to carry the food back. The smell of curries and stir fries wafted from the bags.  
"They're all named, so it'll be easy to hand them out once we get back," Elene mentioned.  
"The theme of the day, or special order for Q branch?" Bond asked, gesturing at the food.  
"Bit of both. Asian is on the menu anyway, but these are easy to shove a spoonful in your mouth, while still typing with the other hand." Elene informed him.  
Once all the bags were packed, they left the cafeteria.

"So you don't really celebrate Halloween?" Bond brought the discussion back.  
"Not really. The French do, however, acknowledge all saint's day, much the same as the Spanish and Italian cultures. In France it's called La Toussaint. Some people go to mass, some people have family around. Most people visit the graves of family members and place chrysanthemums on the grave, or the flowers are placed somewhere in the house. That's about all we do." Elene said.  
Bond turned to her.  
"Carmela mentioned a story about those chrysanthemums," he said.  
Elena smiled. "There is. Short but sweet story. So my mum's French but my father is English. When they were courting papa thought it would be nice to give mama a bouquet."  
"Ladies do like flowers," Bond agreed.  
"Yea, but French ladies don't enjoy being given a bunch of chrysanthemums!" Elena giggled. "Apparently mama nearly dumped him on the spot. It took a lot of convincing for her to forgive him. See, she didn't know that the English don't use those flowers solely for funerals and the dead."  
"I can see why she was upset," Bond agreed, smiling at Elena.  
They had reached Q branch again, and were distracted with distributing food and watching 005's mission.

It was just passed 6pm, when Q had finished up with 005. He was on his way home, and would arrive at midday the next day. He had made mention, before he signed off, that he was glad that he'd be back in time for the party.  
"Will you be there, Q?" Bond asked.  
"Of course," Q replied. "I would be a terrible head of my department if I didn't join them."  
"So you'll be in costume then?"  
The look Q gave Bond really said it all.  
"I was just asking," Bond said. "You haven't worn anything but your normal work clothes all week, except the onesie, while the rest of your department has been wearing something strange each day."  
"I've had meetings scheduled most days, I can't really turn up to those in costumes, Bond." Q informed him. "But tomorrow's the weekend, so that will be different."  
"What are you going as?" Bond asked.  
"You'll have to see when you get here," Q responded.


	8. All Hallows Eve

The day of Halloween was finally here. Bond had his own little mix of various traditions set up in his house. On one empty wall he had made an alter like the Spanish ones that Andreas had shown him. Bond's parents, M and Vesper all had photos up, as well as a few of the 00's that Bond had known. There were some fresh chrysanthemums on the floor, as well as candles. Bond hadn't been game enough to try jack o' lanterns or carving turnips, but instead had a bowl of peanuts in their shell resting to one side. The peanuts, known as monkey nuts in Scotland and Ireland, were used in lieu of candy during trick or treating.  
Bond wasn't a very good baker, but surprisingly enough had found a bakery a few blocks away that made the soul cakes that Christine had mentioned. They did taste a rather lot like more dough hot cross buns.  
Satisfied with his mix of cultures to celebrate and commemorate the dead in his past, Bond took a photo to share with Q branch. He thought they would enjoy knowing he had listened and remembered all that they had told him.

At quarter to five, Bond left his house, the candles in jars and well away from anything that could catch alight. He was surprised that he wasn't the only one wandering the street in costume, though Bond had chosen to leave the head piece off for now.

Q branch was filled with people when he entered, the music, which had been a quiet steady presence for the last week, now turned up loud and filling the high ceilinged room.  
Bond was able to spot a few of the people he had spoken too, all wearing something that they had on during the past week, but with improvements here or there. They must have been using the week as a trail run before they decided on what they were going to enter into the, apparently highly competitive, costume competition.

Finally Bond saw Q, or who he thought was Q, talking to someone he assumed was Miss Moneypenny. The lady had dreadlocks and teeth caps that made her look wild, with markings on her face. He thought he recognised the costume from a movie he saw on a plane at one stage. The man, who Bond assumed was Q, had hair sticking up in all directions, and shone under the lights. He looked ethereal, and then he turned and Bond realised two things. The first was that it was definitely Q, and the second was that he wasn't wearing a shirt.  
Bond placed the helmet part of his costume on his head and made his way over to them.  
As he approached, the lady spoke. "I like the costume, James."  
It was definitely Moneypenny.  
Bond removed the helmet and smiled at her.  
"Lovely as usual, Miss Moneypenny, or should I call you Calypso?"  
Moneypenny ducked her head in acknowledgement.  
"Quite right. Can you tell me who Q is?"  
Bond looked at him carefully but shook his head.  
"He looks like a fae of some sort," Was all Bond could come up with.  
"Close, but not quite." Q told him. "Ariel from The Tempest."  
Now that Q said, that Bond could definitely believe it.  
"How did you know it was me under the helmet and armour?" Bond asked them.  
"You walk like a 00," Moneypenny responded.  
"And I saw you looking at Tim's star wars figures the other day," Q added. "Wasn't hard to figure out that the storm trooper who carried themselves like a 00 was you."  
Bond looked around the room. "I'm also the ONLY storm trooper."  
"At least we all know your aim is more accurate," Moneypenny commented.  
"Yours isn't," Bond grumbled.  
"It was a moving target on a moving train" Moneypenny said in her defence.  
Bond supposed he should give her that.  
"This is quite a celebration, with a mix of cultures and traditions," Bond commented.  
"That's the best part about Halloween, in my opinion," Q replied. "It has so many different pieces to it that it encompasses almost everyone."  
"It's a mishmash of a holiday, really," Moneypenny said.  
"I saw someone call Halloween the misfit's holiday," Q replied. "And really, that's kind of accurate"  
"It's probably why your branch takes to it so well," Moneypenny added.  
"Yea, we are all a bit of misfits, the odd ones out at school and the strange ones in our families," Q replied. "But we made our own family here."  
His eyes flicked to where Andreas' desk was, and Bond looked across also.  
Most of the desk had been cleared and was instead filled with picture frames. Amongst them Bond could see the faces of past 00's, M and the previous Q.  
"We will always guide our family home," Q muttered. "Even if that's only possible in the after life."  
The three paused for a solemnly moment.  
"Come on, Mr storm trooper here doesn't have a drink." Moneypenny spoke up.  
"To the misfit's holiday!" Bond laughed.  
It had been an interesting week, and it was going to be a good night.


End file.
